Germany: Bavarians help biodiversity

Every day, find the green thread, the meeting environment of Release. Today, the good news for the planet.

1.75 million voters in Bavaria, Germany's second most populous state, have moved to the town hall to sign a petition dubbed "Save the Bees", demanding measures to protect biodiversity. For example, they call for 30% of Bavarian arable land to meet organic standards by 2030 and better training of farmers in environmental protection. This "popular petition" (Volksbegehren) has met with unprecedented success in the history of Bavaria. It has collected far more than the one million votes required to be transformed into a bill by the Bavarian Parliament.

Initiated by the small party ÖDP (Ecologist-Democratic Party), it comes shortly after the publication of an alarming report on the extinction of insects. Indeed, the Bavarian constitution allows anyone who supports the support of at least 25,000 Bavarian citizens to launch this initiative, which may eventually have an impact on the legislation.

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Fewer pesticides, more organic farming

Here, it is not only a question of saving the bees, erected in symbol of the biodiversity in danger, but also the birds, the butterflies etc … In detail, this petition calls for the increase of the percentage of organic exploitations, protection of the habitat of endangered species, 10% of green spaces transformed into flowering meadows, rivers and streams and a limitation of the use of pesticides. But also: the protection of riparian strips, these natural barriers between human activity (often agriculture) and aquatic ecosystems, without forgetting the preservation of small farms respectful of nature, which implies a fairer remuneration of producers.

The Bavarian parliament now has three months to turn the petition into a bill that it can either adopt or submit to a referendum. According to the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, Bavaria could "To become a pioneer in Europe in the field of environmental protection".